Tulane coach Lisa Stockton said the Green Wave must limit its turnovers and be explosive in the second half to beat Southern on Friday at 6 p.m. in Baton Rouge.Matthew Hinton / NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Tulane aims for its third consecutive 3-0 start and its 14th straight win against in-state opponents in the Green Wave's second road game this week, this time in Baton Rouge to face Southern. The Green Wave last took the court Monday at ULM, a 70-60 victory propelled by sophomore guard Danielle Blagg's 17 points. However, In their first two victories the Green Wave average 22 turnovers, a weakness the team is determined to rectify.

In practice Thursday, coach Lisa Stockton had her players do push-ups for every turnover they committed during the drills. “We’ve been careless with the ball," Stockton said. "Early in the season playing a lot of players, that’s probably the reason. We just need to get a little bit of flow in our offense ... When we don’t turn the ball over, we’re shooting pretty well, so that’s a positive." As for Southern, the Lady Jaguars lost by two points, 71-69, to ULL to open their season at home Nov. 9. Their leading scorer was junior guard Adrian Sanders with 15 points in 36 minutes.

The series:

Southern leads the all-time series between the two teams, 4-3. They met last season in New Orleans in a game Tulane was in grave danger of losing. Southern jumped on top by as many as 20 points in the first half, and Tulane didn't lead until less than four minutes remained in the game.

A career-high 29 points by senior guard Olivia Grayson helped the Green Wave emerge victorious, 66-59, and Stockton said her team was lucky to beat the Jaguars. "Southern outplayed us; we just ended up with a higher score," she said. "They’re returning most of their team ... They shoot the ball well, they attack you."

Worth noting:

Against Louisiana Tech to open the season, Tulane was outscored, 30-25, in the second half. And at ULM, the Green Wave and Warhawks both scored 31 points after halftime. Tulane players agreed they have to come out stronger in the second half if they want to keep winning.

"Coach always tells us the first five minutes of the second half are the most important minutes," Blagg said. "We need to keep the intensity the whole game, not let it slip for the second half."

Conversely, Southern outscored ULL by one, 40-39, in the second half of its season opener. Stockton said Tulane was successful in building momentum going into halftime at Monroe by scoring on a fastbreak to close the first period, but she said it will take more awareness to fend off an opponent's attack after halftime.

"We've got to show the maturity of knowing that’s when we’re gonna get a lot from them," Stockton said. "They’re coming out of the locker room, they've got a plan, they’re coming at you, so we've got to shut them down at that point."